From Newsgroup: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy

If you donrCOt want your kids joining the jihad, donrCOt send them to a British university. That is the view of the United Arab Emirates, which
has removed the UK from its list of scholarship-eligible student
destinations. The programme subsidises Emirati youngsters to attend
university overseas, with favoured locations including the United
States, Israel and France rCo and, until recently, Britain.

The FT reports that the decision to drop the UK from the scholarship
list is rCylinked to anxiety in the UAE over what it sees as the risk of Islamist radicalisation on UK campusesrCO, and quotes a source saying
Emiratis rCydonrCOt want their kids to be radicalised on campusrCO. They are said to be especially concerned about the failure of Keir StarmerrCOs government to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood.

A Muslim country is so concerned about BritainrCOs tolerance of Muslim extremism that it no longer wishes to send its youth to study here. Bit
of a red flag, I reckon. The UAE is one of the Middle EastrCOs moderate
Arab states and takes a hardline stance against Islamist incitement and agitation. We canrCOt do the same in this country because that would be against core British values of liberty, tolerance and not looking back
in anger when our children are blown up at concerts.

Since at least the 1970s, but in earnest since 2001, the teaching of international relations, Middle East policy, and domestic politics at
British universities has reflected the carefully considered view that
the West is evil and gets what it deserves. Third World villainy must be
put in context, rCyterrorismrCO in quotation marks, and western cash in aid programmes. Viewed through the distorted lens of its universities
Britain is a reactionary dystopia run by the Americans, in service of
the Israelis, to the detriment of democracy, an rCyIslamophobicrCO police state that surveils and harasses Muslims, an Empire-eulogising
practitioner of systemic racism, and a tabloid-conditioned tormentor of migrants. Oh, and something something Margaret Thatcher.

The curriculum isnrCOt what radicalises them, it merely equips them with
the midwit worldview necessary for employment in the British civil
service, the BBC or the NGO sector. The real danger of sending your
children to study in Britain is the sheer array of radicalising
influences they will encounter, on campus and off, online and offline, Islamist and appeaser. They will be exposed to student groups and
political organisations, propaganda content and craven native apologism
that would neither be allowed nor contemplated in the Emirates. Whatever criticisms might be levelled against the Emirati political, media and professional classes rCo authoritarianism, cronyism, exploitation rCo they arenrCOt driven by the same sociopathic self-loathing to disavow their own national interests and harbour those bent on their destruction.

No doubt the UAE is concerned with more than just extremism. Relations
with London have grown tense over issues such as the Emirati bid to buy
up the Daily Telegraph. But Britain has a major problem with Islamism, a governing class that prefers to deny the problem, police forces that
would rather ban Israeli fans from football matches than root out the extremists, and a campus culture where radicalism goes unconfronted.
Islamism prospers because it is a victimhood complex allied to a
sacrifice and redemption narrative. It is so difficult to fight in
Britain because some from across civil society buy into its victimhood
claims, regarding Islamism as an unfortunate but predictable response to
the sins of the West, rather than a distinct ideological project to
dominate Britain and make her people submit. Too many have already
submitted.

Moderate Arab nations increasingly regard British universities as
Hezbollah training camps with matriculation fees, and that is entirely
on the higher education sector and the government, which ought to
provide firmer leadership on these matters. The Emiratis have taken the correct decision to prioritise the wellbeing of their children and the stability of their country over the hurt feelings of the British. Until British universities become a hostile environment for Islamists they
will not be a desirable destination for those who understand that
totalitarian thug ideology and are determined to keep it at bay.


Stephen Daisley
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